I’m betting one of the stories is an interracial romance between a human male and an elf female.
The second story, featuring Thrall, is a white savior story.
Couldn’t Golden have picked a better setting for the story? The Second War was lame. Why not have Golden write a story about Grom and his guerrilla with the humans or his domination of the nelfs? How about a Pretty Little Liars-esque story set in Stormwind’s magical academies?
No, Lord of the Clans is pretty darn important to understand the Horde in WCIII.
WIthout reading Lord of the Clans, the Horde goes from a demon empowered force that uses warlocks and enslaves other races, to a shamanistic one that hates warlocks.
Without Lord of the Clans to explain who Thrall is, how the Horde had changed and how exactly Thrall became Warchief of the Horde, the orcs’ story in WCIII is one giant leap from the previous.
I recall a thread years ago where people did talk about how they didn’t read LotC and had no idea who Thrall was or why the Horde were suddenly considered good guys.
To be fair to Lord of the clans. It was originally going to be a game. However it got cancelled and got turned into a novel instead.
So if you knew about the game and the basic narrative it was going to have before it got the can, then you would’ve understood the horde during WC3.
Right. The story was too important to not put out. When the game got canned, they had to restort to another means to show the story.
It’s important to understanding the transition between WCII and WCIII that they had to put it into a book when the game fell through. You need to know the story of LotC to understand the Horde’s story after WCII.
I don’t think it’s reasonable to assume most WC fans back in the late 90s and early 2000s would’ve followed developments, especially since it wasn’t as easy to follow such things as it is now.
I have a feeling most WCII players did ultimately go into WCIII not knowing the story of LotCs, but with the game cancelled I’m not sure what else blizz coulda done at that point sans pushing WCIII and WoW back.
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I don’t think it’s reasonable to assume most WC fans back in the late 90s and early 2000s would’ve followed developments, especially since it wasn’t as easy to follow such things as it is now. I have a feeling most WCII players did ultimately go into WCIII not knowing the story of LotCs, but with the game cancelled I’m not sure what else blizz coulda done at that point sans pushing WCIII and WoW back.
Add to that the fact that the original author hired to write the novel for unknown reasons got replaced by Christie Golden, and she had 3 weeks to write and complete the novel.
We don’t know what had to be taken out of the story to be able to meet the 3 week deadline.
This has been the case since at least Wrath.
So are these stores already set or is she writing new ones that we all know will retcon something significant?
I get the feeling whoever leads the writing staff at Blizz liked the Last Jedi.
Arthas Rise of the Lich King and Night of the Dragon aren’t huge stories. One just adds some more details to their story, most of which you can experience in WC3. And the other just explains the origins of the Twilight Dragonflight, while also explaining why Sinestra is a zombie dragon in Cata.
Compare that to Tides of war where a whole city gets blown up and one of the main characters since WC3 begins a major character arc because of it. While also setting up another characters path to being a major antagonist of the story moving forward.
I think there is room to write about stories of the past:
My most favorite story I wish to read:
The story of the first Vrykul to be affected by the Curse of Flesh – with Tyr as the main character. Probably a trilogy that ends with Tyr traveling with the sickened Azotha to Eastern Kingdoms.
All of these stories should have been printed long ago. You don’t need to tie a book to a upcoming expansion.
But those printed stories could very well inspire the creation of new expansions and even brand-new games and genres based on the Warcraft IP.
Tyr died before humanity was born from the curse. The vrykul that were affilcted with the curse of flesh to bear malformed children sent those children to live with the vrykul of Tirisfal, who lived where Tyr died to honour him.
But otherwise, Tyr was dead when Curse of Flesh begun affecting the vrykul.
That’s not to say you can’t have a story of the vrykul dealing with the Curse and how humans came about, just that Tyr was dead when that happened.
Could you provide source?
From my end, when I mentioned Tyr and the Azotha (or better known as the first humans descended from the curse of flesh-affected Vrykul), I did so taking in mind the Holy Paladin questline.
I can understand why non-Holy Paladins might have missed the new lore. Replace DOT with: .
warcraftDOTblizzplanetDOTcom/blog/comments/the-silver-hand
HOLY PALADIN
Travard : We can no longer keep Tyr’s resting place safe, but we must recover the Silver Hand. Tyrosus has lent us a small force to aid in the recovery of the hammer, and some of my order will meet us there as well, but I fear even that may not be enough. I’m glad we’ll have you with us. I will rally these men and women. You should take the portal to Dalaran Crater, then fly to Tirisfal Glades and meet us. I’ve marked the location on your map.
Later on, after you loot the Silver Hand weapon artifact, these are the exact words:
Travard : We… made it. We have the Silver Hand as well. The collapse was part of the failsafe, without the hammer powering the wards, anyone could have opened Tyr’s sarcophagus, desecrated his remains. You wield the Hand well I think. Return to Tyrosus, he will want to hear of our success. I will see you again.
In short, Tyr died in Tirisfal Glades (long before it was named such), and his remains were placed in that tomb.
So if we connect the dots, Tyr brought the Azotha from Northrend. Their ship landed in the coast of what now is known as Tirisfal Glades.
SHADOW PRIEST
The Shadow Priest weapon artifact questline gives us a little bit more of lore on how Tyr died.
I think you have heard of the dark whispers beneath Tirisfal Glades – the ones that drove the High Elves who disembarked in its coast insane, and therefore they had to sail further north to what is now Quel’Thalas.
Well, this storyline tells us what might be the source of the dark whisperings. Tyr killed a Faceless One named Zakajz the Corruptor (a C’Thraxxi) in what now is his Tomb.
There is some sort of broken seal leading to a complex beneath the lake. The lake itself looks like it suffered a titanic explosion thousands of years ago. Somehow the Shadow Deacon knew of this location and knows that a C’Thraxxi died here. His plan is bold. He will to use the Black Blade to resurrect this ancient being and restore the Twilight’s Hammer to its pinnacle.
Now the portion of the Shadow Priest’s Xala’tath weapon artifact questline that says that Tyr died in what later became his Tomb is here:
Shadowlord Slaghammer : Can ye believe they found the Tomb of Tyr himself?! He died here LONG ago fighting some monstruous general of the Old gods. His comrades buried him ‘ere and the corpse o’ that beast further in. This tomb was also meant to guard the prison tomb o’ that monster but the Twilight’s Hammer put a stop ta that.
So there you have it. Blizzard introduced a few loose bits of lore about Tyr and how he died. The only way he could have died in Tirisfal Glades is after sailing the sick children and teens of the curse-of-flesh-affected Vrykul to its coast.
Hence – the story of Tyr and the Azotha. A more fleshed out story in a trilogy novel would be awesome.
Source for the Shadow Priest questline – warcraftDOTblizzplanetDOTcom/blog/comments/blade-in-twilight-legion-shadow-priest-artifact-questline
My point of view is not final, however. There are contradictions, as you insinuated. So it is up in the air for a writer to flesh out the story to give us the full picture of what really happened.
Sources:
wow DOT gamepedia DOT com/Thoradin
wow DOT gamepedia DOT com/Tyr
The vrykul began to give birth to “weak and ugly” children around 15,000 years before the First War, leading them to believe their gods had abandoned them. The vrykul king Ymiron ordered that all the weak children be killed: the punishment for not doing so was that the child’s parents would be executed alongside them. Despite the risks, however, not all parents obeyed this order and instead hid their children to grow up far away from Northrend. These vrykul had heard of a lost clan of vrykul who had journeyed with Tyr, Archaedas, and Ironaya, and thus ventured for this fairy-tale refuge. Few managed to find Tirisfal and leave their children there. Legends later changed this story to say that it was Tyr who brought the humans to their new home.
Ximothy: “But otherwise, Tyr was dead when Curse of Flesh begun affecting the vrykul.”
From World of Warcraft: Chronicles Vol. 1
Before setting out, Tyr and his allies gathered great numbers of titan-forged who dwelled around Ulduar. A large group of peaceful vrykul afflicted by the curse of flesh, most of the surviving earthen, and many of the mechagnomes agreed to take part in the journey.
Sure! Always up for an exchange of sources, and I’m glad you provided some of your own.
The reason Tyr was in what would become Tirisfal had nothing to do with ferrying sick children. Tyr was fleeing Ulduar along with Archaedus and a force of vrykul, earthen and mechagnomes in order to protect the Discs of Norgannon from Loken and his Old God masters. They intended to give these Discs to Algalon to prove Loken’s version of events were false, and so Patheon could intervene (in theory, they were dead but the Keepers didn’t know this at the time).
“When Loken learned that the Disc of Norgannon were missing, panic seixed him. If Tyr and his allies presented the artifats to Algalon or the Pantheon, Loken’s life would be forfeit. Out of desperation, he turned to the only creatures he knew were powerful enough to stop the mighty Tyr and recover the discs; ancient C’thraxxi monstrosities known as Zakazj and Kith’ix.”
Chronicles, page 62.
Tyr, Archaedus and their followers were fleeing down to Uldaman, but the two monsters caught them in what would become known as Tirisfal Glades. Tyr fought them off, killing one and severly injuring the other.
" Loken awakened two of the Old Gods’ most powerful generals and sent them after Tyr. These enormous creatures were called the C’Thraxxi. They stormed south and caught up with Tyr and the titan-forged refugees in the land we know as Tirisfal. Or, as the vrykul called it, ‘Tyr’s Fall’."
Of all the titan-forged who had come south, the vrykul were the most moved by what Tyr had done to protect them. They decided to stay in the region and stand vigil over the keeper’s tomb.
LIBRAM OF ANCIENT Kings, The Silver Hand, Chapter 7 and 8.
So the vrykul followers of Tyr settled down in Tirisfal Glades for reasons unrelated to malformed children. However, these are not the ancestors of humanity.
After the Keepers were all missing, insane, trapped or dead, the vrykul begun to feel abandoned by the ‘Gods’, aka the Keepers, or Titans. Their children begun being born small and weak, so King Ymiron wanted to kill 'em to spite the gods for abandoning them.
Not all parents did this, and instead they sent their children to Tirisfal.
Many of the Dragonflayers obeyed Ymiron’s brutal orders. Some, however, could not bring themselves to murder innocent children. They sought to hide their stunted offspring in a place of legend, a land far to the south where a lost clan of vrykul was said to have journeyed with Tyr, Archaedas and Ironya.
A number of Dragonflayers ventured south, taking their diminutive newborns in search of their fairy-tale refuge. Most were never heard from again. But others did find their way. With heavy hearts they left their beloved sons and daughters in the care of the vrykul they inhabited Tirisfal.
Chronicles 1, page 66.
Finally, the Tirisfalen vrykul died off. they did not become humans themselves.
" At some point in Azeroth’s distant past, humanity emerged in Tirisfal Glades. The iron-skinned vrykul who lived there slowly died off. Many of them suffered from the curse of flesh, a strange malady that transformed them into creatures of flesh and blood.
Yet one group of vrykul lasted longer than the others. They formed a secretive group-Tyr’s Guard-to protect Keeper Tyr’s tomb. The vrykul of this order knew that they would not live forever, and so they inducted some of the fledgling humans into their ranks.
LIBRAM OF ANCIENT KINGS, chapter 9.
The curse of flesh did not affect all vrykul with malformed children. Only the Dragonflayers are ever recorded as having this issue.
So that’s my sources. Tyr’s followers that settled down in Tirisfal were not the malformed children, but rather the clan of which later generations of vrykul hid their malformed infants with to save them from Ymiron. Tyr was long dead by this point.
Yeah, my memory was off, Ymiron wasn’t even the first mortal king of vrykuls, so the vrykul were mortals long before humans were born.
But, as I said before, the Dragonflayers are the only clan to have ever displayed the problem of malformed offspring. The Drust and Stormheim vrykul have not ever shown to produce human offspring.
Thanks a lot. I’m reading through the story in Chronicles Vol. 1 about Tyr. Beautiful story. This needs to be novelized in a trilogy, and add more than what got revealed in Chronicles.
Hey, I like having an honest discussion. And I like chronicles 1.
Many don’t cause the recent "it’s in universe so not everything’s canon’’ thing blizz had, but for ancient history, that way of story telling is fine.
Ok. Now I got to the part you referred to. Tyr did die before the Dragonflayer women gave birth to the malformed children. Then King Ymiron ordered the purge of those children.
What I don’t get is – where is the clan of Vrykul who journeyed with Tyr, Archaedas, Ironaya, the surviving Earthen and mechagnomes?
Were those Vrykul affected by the curse of flesh? Otherwise, where are they?
It seems the clan of Vrykul stayed in Tirisfal.
Archaedas and Ironaya honored the vrykul’s wishes to settle the land of Tirisfal.
The earthen eventually got affected by the curse of flesh. So they decided to hibernate in Uldaman until a cure could be found.
So it seems the Vrykul clan in Tirisfal succumbed to the curse of flesh and their children became humanity.
Another theory could be that if the dragonflayer children and the Tirisfal Vrykul’s children were two separate types, the intermixing would create the human race. Kinda like the Neanderthals and Denisovans – but err that is way too complicated.
They died off.
The thing about the vrykul and the Curse of Flesh is that human children are not a gurantee.
Look at Stormheim. They have thousands of years of mortal generations there, but no human in sight. The Drust, who are vrykul, only died off a few thousand years ago, over ten thousand years after the vrykul were affilicted with the Curse, but again no sign of malformed children.
The only vrykul clan to ever produce human offspring were the Dragonflayer. No other clan or type of vrykul affected by the Curse of Flesh have ever been said or seen producing malformed offspring.
Based off of the lore we have, the Dragonflayer may have been the only ones affected in a way as to produce malformed offspring that became humans. The curse is even described as ‘taking a turn’ for the Dragonflayer in producing malformed babies.
That’s intriguing. What made the dragonflayer give birth in the first place. What was unique to them? Must. Know. @Christie Golden you need to write this story to quench our thirst.
Update: Ahh, could it be something as simple as Alexstrasza giving a blessing to the Dragonflayer Vrykul? Magic.
Maybe a woman Vrykul saves Alexstrasza. The woman tells her about their curse. They are dying off.
Alexstrasza then blesses the women with her new-found life-giving powers.
Presto.
That… we don’t know. Well giving birth to humans, they obviously gave birth to vrykul beforehand.
Why the Dragonflayer, and no other vrykul clan, begun suffering worse from the curse is not clear.
But hey, mysteries keep the world interesting.
That or like a real world disease the Curse of Flesh can just evolve.
ohh wait, the other Vrykul gave birth to baby vrykul.
Only the dragonflayer’s were malformed. that was confusing.